Integrated Reporting Framework

Progress on international standards for integrating financial and social reporting has been advanced in Johannesburg by Professor Mervyin King, chair of the IRC through an interesting discussion paper.

The document, currently open for public comment, offers direction to the 400 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that, since February last year, have been obliged to produce an integrated report for their current financial year. The guidance document views the integrated report as an organisation's primary report, replacing the traditional annual report. Internationally, it has been widely anticipated as part of the growing movement to persuade organisations to report on their total performance, not just financials.

Professor King said: "An integrated report is not simply bolting the sustainability report to the financial report. Integrated reporting is an evolution of corporate reporting. It is an idea ‘whose time has come' because of the crises of our time". He added it is a more transparent form of reporting, offering significant benefits to stakeholders, investors and the company itself, improving trust and reputation.

The Global Alliance is an active member of the International Integrated Reporting Committee, the global organization developing such reports; GA provides communications counsel as this important initiative moves forward. GA members - and their members - are invited to carefully read the draft and offer comments. The discussion paper can be downloaded at http://www.sustainabilitysa.org/

About the IRC

In South Africa in May 2010, the Integrated Reporting Committee (IRC) was established to develop guidelines on good practice in integrated reporting. Five major South African organisations founded the IRC: the Association for Savings & Investment South Africa (ASISA), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA), JSE Ltd and SAICA (The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants). Professor Mervyn King - chairman of the King Committee, chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and deputy chairman of the IIRC, was elected as the first chairman of the IRC. The objectives of the IRC are: 1. To establish and to procure the recognition and acceptance of what the Committee considers is or should be good practice in integrated reporting. 2. To design, disseminate and promote standardized integrated reporting reflecting the economic, environment and social dimensions of an organisation's activities. 3. To promote the international harmonization of integrated reporting by working with the International Integrated Reporting Committee.

About the Global Alliance

The Global Alliance For Public Relations and Communication Management, established in 2000, is the confederation of the world's major public relations and communication management associations and institutions representing 160,000 practitioners and educators around the world. The Global Alliance's mission is to unify the public relations profession, raise professional standards all over the world, share knowledge for the benefit of its members and be the global voice for public relations in the public interest. http://www.globalalliancepr.org/